Railway signal-torpedo.



E. C. PFEIL 6: 0. BEMISDER'FER RAILWAY SIGNAL TORPEDO.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 19. 1913.

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, UNITED sTATns rar onnron.

ELMER o. IPFEIL AND vo'r'ro BEMISDERFER, or HAMMOND, INDIANA, nssleNons '10 CENTRAL RAILWAY SIGNAL COMPANY on PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, a con- PORATION OF NEW JERSEY. 1 e

V RAILWAY SIGNALILTORPEDOU Specification of L etters Patent. Pat t '15,191

Application filed September 19,1913. Serial No. 730,703.

' To all whom it may concern:

Railway Signal-Torpedoes, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad therein to the accompanying drawing.

()nr invention relates-to improvements in railway signal torpedoes, and pertains to that class in which the case for the explosive compound is made from a single piece of non-flying material, such as paper, cloth or any other suitable material.

'We are aware that it is not new to form a torpedo from a single piece of non-flying material, for this is disclosed in Patent No. 999,113, dated July 25th 1911, to Alfred H. Knapp, and our present improvement pertains to the manner of attaching a spring rail-engaging clip to the form of torpedo disclosed in said patent.

The primary object of our present invention is to provide a simple, effective and cheap manner of attaching a spring clip to a one piece fibrous pliable non-flying torpedo case.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a top perspective View of our improved torpedo. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the single piece from which the case is made, the parts shown opened upward. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the side flaps of the case closed and the spring clip attaching member in position ready to have the end flaps closed thereover.

Referring now to the drawings forming part of this specification, A is the case in which is placed a suitable explosive compound 13, preferably in tablet form. Referring now particularly to Fig. 3, the case A is formed of a single piece of pliable nonfiying material, which has a central portion 1, and this central portion is depressed in suitable dies to form a pocket or recessZ, for receiving the explosive compound B. The form of torpedo here shown is what is known in the art as a wedge-shaped torpedo. which, as heretofore stated, in commercial practice has been almost exclusively constructed of metal. This form of torpedo has recognized advantages in that it pre- 1 sents a tapered portion for the wheels of the locomotive to strike, j thus avoiding the tendency for the torpedo to fly or pop from under the wheel, which has a tendency to occur where an abrupt wall ispresented as in other forms of torpedoes. The central portion 1 is provided with the side flaps 3v and with the end flaps 1'. In theprocess of assembling, the explosive compound B is placed in the pocket 2, one of said flaps turned inward thereover and the other side flap turned inward over the first said side 'flap, and these two flaps are cemented together by a suitable water-proof cement,

thus closing the recess or pocket and holding-the explosive compound therein.

The rail attaching clip 5 is riveted toa suitable plate 6, preferably of metal. and

this plate with the clip attached thereto is placed on top of the outer side flap 3 and the end flaps 4 turned inward over the plate. The said flaps are all about the same width as the center or body-portion 1, so as to positively close the pocket 2 and hold the eX- plosive compound therein. The plate 6 is cemented to the outer side flap 3 and the end flaps 4 are cemented to the outside of the plate 6. As clearly illustrated, the end flaps 4 are less than half the length of the torpedo and of a length to fit against the edges of the spring clip 5. The'thickness of the material of the end flaps, together with the cement thereunder when the parts are pressed in position, brings the outer surface of the flaps'about level with the outside of the spring clip, so that when the torpedo is placed on the railroad rail, it will,

set level thereon.

One of the primary advantages of this torpedo is that it presents a form of spring clip torpedo which has been recognized for years as having special advantages and at the same time one which is of a non-flving nature to prevent iniury to persons, and yet of sufficient strength and stability to permit the spring clip to be o ened up and placed on the railroad rail without injury to the torpedo. therefore presenting a torpedo having all the advantages of the well-known metal wedge-shaped torpedo and without.

the disadvantages thereof. caused by the flying of the metal case when the torpedo is ex loded.

Having thus described our invention,

What We claim and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is:

'1; In a torpedo of the class described, an

explosive compoundcontainer composed of a single piece of pliable material having a body-portion wlth a depression to receive an explosive compound, the body-portion having a pair of side flaps and a pair of end flaps, the Width or each of one pair of flaps being substantially equal to that of the body-portion, the said flaps folded over the depression and over, each other, a a plate placed over. the said flaps, a rail-engaging member connected to the plate and extending' at right angles to the otherv pair o'ffiaps, the last said pair of flaps closed over the plate and of a length to prevent overlapping, the rail-engaging member for the purpose described, the plate and the. flaps being cemented together and t0 the body-portion. I

Copies of this patent may be obtainetl i'o z;

placed over the flaps and a rail-engaging member connected to the plate and extending transverse the body-portion, the end flaps being of a lengthless than half the length of the body-portion to prevent overlapping the rail-engaging member and foldedover the plate, the flaps and plate and body-portion being cemented together. 3; Ina torpedo of the class described, an explosive, compound container composed of a piece of pliable material having a body portion provided with the depression to. receive an explosive compound, and flaps carried by the body portion for closing the torpedo, a plate placed oversaid flaps, a railengaging member connected. to the plate and a pair of end flaps closed over the plate, and of length to prevent overlapping the railengaging member for the purpose described. In testimony whereof We hereunto ,afiix our signatures in the presence of 't oWitnesses.

ELMER C. PFEIL. OTTO BEMISDERFER. Witnesses:

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, wann w" 

